A guy pops up on my camera, checks my car door handle, has a flashlight and is scoping out my property. He's gone, I have the description - but this doesn't warrant a 911 call as it's not an emergency.
However - it is worth reporting - but the non emergency line doesn't really give you the option to speak with someone for that sort of thing, and the general options you can't get through after 9-5 hours.
A friend of mine is a police officer in another city and tells me about the calls he fields. He says many of them are disputes, or generally arguments between adults who don't know how to communicate and he finds himself mediating. A large chunk are mental health calls as well (specifically taking ones own life).
It seems there is a giant missing middle here, where preventative actions (ie seeing a suspicious person is a non emergency and likely won't dispatch anyone any time soon) are underesourced, but what is keeping police busy isn't organized crime or even petty crime - but social and health issues.
I know this is not news to some people but I genuinely see a huge gap in how this system works but because of Ontario legislation, policing is basically untouchable.
I am probably preaching to the choir here but it all just seems like wasted potential and redundant and chicken and egg/snake eating its tail.
That's all!